


Let's Catch Snowflakes on our Tounges

by poppycurls



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Cold Weather, Fluff, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Multiple One-Shots, merlinchristmasfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-02-28 08:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2725523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppycurls/pseuds/poppycurls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Different winter/holiday themed one-shots, one uploaded each week. I only did three out of the five prompts, but I had loads of fun in doing so. The merlinchristmasfest is hosted by merlincristmasfest on Tumblr.  Can be read together or separately. </p><p>Basically, Arthur and Merlin are cuties who love spending the cold seasons together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Things We Do For Cats (And Friendship)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Arthur walked off his ‘how in the world is my manservant such an idiot’ anger relatively quickly. When Arthur finally cleared his head, he found himself doubling over and laughing like a madman. Some of the things he and Merlin went through together, honestly..."

“No. No. Absolutely, positively not.”

“But, come on, Arthur, you said you would help me!”

“Because, Merlin, you idiot, you told me that a citizen was in danger and that I needed to help you right away.”

“I didn’t lie!”

“This is not a citizen in danger.”

“Yes it is!”

The king of Camelot and his manservant’s voices could probably be heard in the lower towns, they were so loud. They were fighting, as usual, and both were standing outside in ankle-deep snow, warming the air with their argument. “I don’t care. I’m going back inside, it’s too cold out here. I wish I wasn’t here at all, but SOMEBODY made me go outside to rescue a kitten buried in a snowdrift.” Arthur turned to leave.

Merlin huffed. “This is just like you, you know. Why in the world did I think that someone who uses hunting as a pastime would help me rescue a poor cat? Silly me.”

In spite of himself, Arthur rolled his eyes. “Look, Merlin, I do want to help, but the cat’s probably dead. You went to go find me a while ago, right? He couldn’t have lasted very long.” He gave Merlin and the snowbank one last, long look, then started heading towards the castle.He had almost made it to the doors when Arthur turned around, looked surprised when he realized his manservant wasn’t following him. Then he noticed that Merlin was nowhere in sight, and there was a trail of snowy footprints leading right to the edge of the pile of snow, with a newly acquired Merlin-sized hole in it.

“That idiot!” Arthur muttered to himself, doubling back the way he came. “Merlin,” he called, arriving at the pile of snow. “Leave it! You’re going to freeze to death.”

There was no response.

“Fine then, be like that, you clotpole. Just don’t take too long.”  He stood there for a little while, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Come on, Merlin,” he called.”Let’s get back to the castle. If you haven’t found the cat by now, just give up.”

Still there was no response. What had Merlin been wearing? Arthur’s mind starting racing frantically. Surely not that thin shirt and jacket, right? Ture, he never wore anything else, but even Merlin couldn’t have been stupid enough to wear that on a cold day like today.

Right?

A second later, Arthur himself was diving into the snow pile. Using his hands to fling away large amounts of snow, he kept going, throwing away about half the snow before seeing a familiar brown jacket. Without hesitating, he reached out, grabbing the jacket and pulling, which had a very cold-looking Merlin attached to it, holding a small, even colder-looking gray kitten to his chest.

Merlin, after being pulled to his feet, looked breathlessly at Arthur. “Hi,” he said. “I got that cat.” He held out the kitten to Arthur, as if to prove it.

Arthur, to furious to speak, grabbed Merlin by the elbow and started to drag his towards the castle. His manservant looked bewildered - what had he done this time? - but knowing better, said nothing and let Arthur lead him.

Once they got inside, Arthur stopped for nobody, not even when they passed Gwaine, who dropped what he was doing to laugh. Arthur obviously didn’t care what everyone thought, because he continued through the castle, sopping wet and furious, and dragging along his also wet and shivering servant, who was holding a cat. Arthur continued to hold his stony silence until they reached his chambers, where Arthur promptly dumped Merlin on the floor next to the fireplace.

Merlin looked up at him expectantly. “You - you, Merlin, are an idiot. A huge idiot.” When Merlin said nothing, Arthur threw up his hands in disgust. “You know what?” he said, and left the room. Arthur could have sworn he heard a soft “You never told me what!” behind him, but he chose to ignore it.

Arthur walked off his ‘how in the world is my manservant such an idiot’ anger relatively quickly. When Arthur finally cleared his head, he found himself doubling over and laughing like a madman. Some of the things he and Merlin went through together, honestly.  Arthur laughed for quite some time, then headed back to his chambers.

Merlin was sitting on the floor exactly where they saw each other last. However, he looked tired, as if he had just done something extremely difficult. The little gray kitten was now wandering around Arthur’s room, looking perfectly healthy. Arthur found that to be extremely suspicious, but he didn’t say anything, instead choosing to walk over to the bed and grab the covers. He drapped them on Merlin’s shoulders, and sat next to him.

“You should get out those wet clothes, you know,” Arthur said, staring into the fire.

“Yeah, okay.” Merlin didn’t move.

“That’s an order, Merlin.”

Merlin sighed, and stood up to go change. “What am I supposed to wear?”

“I don’t know, find something of mine.” Arthur waited until Merlin was done, then beckoned him over to sit next to him. Arthur picked up the blankets again and made sure they were securely wrapped around Merlin.

“You’re not mad at me, then?” Merlin asked.

“No, I’m not. You’re just … you’re just an idiot sometimes.”

“Oh.”

“I worry about you.”

“Can I get that in writing? I might use it against you later.”

“Over my dead body.”

Merlin laughed, and placed his head on Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur glanced over at him, but decided to say nothing.

“Hey, Arthur?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s supposed to snow a lot tonight. I’m going to hit you with a snowball tomorrow, okay?”

“Only if you wear gloves and warm clothes.”

“You sound like my mother.”

“Good.”

“I think that you’d look lovely with a pile of snow on your face.”

“I’m going to throw you in a lake.”

“Okay.”

The next time Arthur looked at him, he was surprised to see that Merlin was fast asleep. “You’re using my shoulder as a pillow, you idiot,” Arthur muttered to the sleeping figure. “Oh, no, not you too,” he said, looking down, for the little gray kitten had settled himself on Arthur’s lap.

“You’ve caused enough trouble today. Maybe that’s your name. Trouble. I hope you get lost someday, so Merlin can run around telling everyone he’s looking for Trouble.” The little cat purred, and Arthur scratched it behind the ears.

Arthur looking behind him, out the window, and at the steadily falling snow. The snow looked beautiful. He looked down at the little kitten, then at Merlin, and smiled.

Boy, did he love winter.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we all agree here that Merlin and Arthur are cuties  
> I'm pretty sure we all can  
> Anndddd if you liked it, could you comment or kudo? I mean, you don't have too. But it would be nice. :3
> 
> I'm gonna upload part two sometime next week. 
> 
> Until then,
> 
> TTFN!


	2. Falling In a Winter Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s nothing that scares a person more that seeing their best friend disappear.

Hunting, in this weather? Really, at this rate, Arthur was going to get himself killed. And then Merlin, being ever the saint, would have to save his neck. Begrudgedly, of course, because Merlin couldn’t have cared less that Arthur got himself hurt. He deserved it, because Arthur was a huge prat who dragged his unwilling manservant outside to go hunting in the worst snowstorm in a century.

These were the bitter thoughts that were swirling through Merlin’s head as he rode behind Arthur through the cold. The snow was bad, but Arthur had insisted that all the animals would be out looking for food, so hunting would go extremely well. This made absolutely no sense to Merlin, but he carried on, bound by his job as manservant.

  Perhaps, if Merlin hadn’t been brooding the entire way, he would have noticed sooner that the horse in front of him had no rider. It was only when the horse stopped and looked at back at Merlin that he was finally snapped out of his reverie. “Arthur!” He called, swinging off of his horse and landing ankle-deep in snow, only to grab on to his horse in fright. They were only a past that Merlin had never seen before, one that was extremely narrow and overlooked a large gorge.

Merlin got down on all fours, careful not fall, and called Arthur’s name again. However, his attempts were in vain, because the wind carried his voice away. Tears gathered in his eyes, freezing to his face as the fell. Why had he been so stupid? He should have been there for Arthur, looking out for him, but he hadn’t been.

“Arthur!” he called again, but there was no response. Merlin searched desperately for a speck of red, hoping to catch sight of the Pendragon cape, but he looked to no avail. Feeling numb for reasons other than the cold, Merlin sat back on his heels. Around him, the two horses nudged at his face, impatient to get moving again.

Merlin started to cry harder, bringing frozen hands up to his face to wipe away tears. Arthur was smart, and he was a knight, but that fall was impossibly deep. Even if he had found something to grab on to or had made it to the bottom alive, there was no chance anyone could survive in this weather, right?  Merlin battled with himself, trying to reason out if Arthur was alive or not. Then he realized - if there was a chance that his prince was alive, then merlin had to go after him. So he jumped.

Now, Merlin wasn’t exactly in the best mind frame when he made that decision. He realized it as soon as he leapt, that there were several better ways to do this. He could have used his magic. Tumbling down the cliff side, Merlin reached out a hand, hoping to cushion his fall using a spell, but his mind seemed to be as numb as the rest of his body.

Then he heard it. A loud “What the hell? Merlin, are you mad?”, accompanied by something slamming into his body and throwing him off course.

Merlin felt himself fly through the air and land in a small cave off the side of the cliff. He groaned, lifting himself up gingerly to look out the entrance. There was a gloved hand slowly pulling it’s owner up. Then came another hand, a foot, and -oh. A very pissed-off Arthur Pendragon.

“Merlin, tell me, are you insane? What were you thinking? You could’ve died! You’re lucky I was watching, or else you’d be dead for sure!”

“Where - where were you?”

“A little higher up, where I said I’d be! You were supposed to follow me!” Arthur’s face was slowly turning redder as he yelled.

“I - I didn’t -”

“You’re just lucky I knew that this cave was here, or else we’d both be dead!”

“You didn’t - but - your horse -”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” said Merlin, deciding that it would be better not to tell him that he thought he was dead.

“You said something about a horse - oh no. You stayed behind because you were worried about the horses, didn’t you. You’re an idiot, they would be fine! Next time, just do as you’re told!”

“I …. fell. I’m sorry,” Merlin mumbled, taking a sudden interest in the floor.

Arthur sighed, suddenly looking very tired. “It looked more like you jumped,” he said, crossing over to Merlin, he helping him into a sitting position. “Honestly, only you could have been that clumsy. Are you hurt?”

“No, just cold. Are you?”

“No.” Arthur pulled off his cape and draped it around Merlin’s shoulders. “Stay here,” he said, walking toward that back of the cave. “I’m going to see if there’s anything we can use for firewood.”

“Why? Are we staying?”

“Well, you don’t expect us to go back to Camelot in this weather, do you?”

“It was your idea to come out here in the first place,” Merlin muttered under his breath.

Arthur threw a glove at him.

“What? Were you actually planning on catching something?”

“No,” Arthur said, suddenly looking very guilty.

“Wait, what?”

“I thought it would be fun to go out.”

“You what?”

“It wasn’t snowing when we left,” Arthur said hastily. “Remember? It was nice out, I thought we could just go out and…”

“And what? What made you think that’s a good idea?”

“And just be Arthur and Merlin, rather than the prince of Camelot and his manservant.”

“That - that’s a great idea, but please, next time, let’s do it when it’s not cold and dangerous out.”

“Deal.”

They made a fire, and sat around it. The atmosphere was uncomfortable and tense at first, but they soon warmed up and began talking and laughing. The snowstorm cleared up in hour, and they made their journey back home, better friends than they were when they left.

“Hey, Arthur?” Merlin asked when they had almost reached the city wall.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for saving my life.”

“Of course. You’ve saved mine once or twice before, so we’re fair.”

Merlin tried not to laugh. “Right. Once or twice. Well, thanks anyway.”

Arthur looked at him strangely, but said nothing. Instead he stopped his horse and turned to Merlin who pulled up next to him. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Me, too.” Merlin leaned close to Arthur, lips next his ear. “First one to the castle wins,” he whispered and sped off.

Arthur laughed, then raced after him.

Hunting in this weather turned out not to be such a bad idea after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eheehee...  
> I'll keep updating this, promise. I do have Chapter 4 ready, though!   
> Also, Merry Christmas to all my Orthodox friends! I'm there with you, which I why I might not have everything up. Cuz, you know, holidays.   
> Ah, well, I hope you like!  
> (I don't)  
> (Not very much)  
> (Not this chapter)   
> (Shh don't tell)  
> Well, as always, feel free to comment or kudo!  
> TTFN!


	3. In The Midnight Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really, only Arthur could get this excited about snow, Merlin thought bitterly. 
> 
> Or, the time those idiots broke out of the castle to watch the snow fall together.

Merlin was running through the castle, chasing a butterfly and laughing. Freya was waiting at the entrance to one of the rooms, watching him with a smile on her face. When he noticed her, Merlin let out a happy ‘Freya!’ and flew towards her, literally flew, jumping until his feet left the ground and he was able to grab her hands and send them both flying out a window and above the castle. Children laughed and pointed, and knights stopped training to watch the spectacle. Even Gaius was pleased, his voice ringing out loud and clear. “Merlin!” he called. “Don’t swat at me Merlin, I’m trying to wake you!”

And then Merlin was awake, finding himself grounded and on his cot. Gaius was standing over him, one had still shaking his shoulder. “What were you dreaming about? It took me forever to wake you!”

It’s private, Merlin thought, sulking into his pillow. “It’s the middle of the night, Gaius, go back to sleep. Whatever’s happening can wait.”

“There are guards outside waiting for you, Merlin!”

That made Merlin shoot up and spring out of bed. “I haven’t done anything! What do they want?” All sleepiness gone, Merlin looked at Gaius, fear in his eyes.

“I don’t know! Does it look like I know? Did you do any magic in public recently?”

“No, I’m not stupid!” Merlin hissed back.

Gaius gave him a look that suggested otherwise. “Put some clothes on and get outside.” He left, closing the door to Merlin’s room behind him. After a short scramble which involved Merlin hurrying to pick some clothes up off the ground and change into them, he followed the physician out.  True to Gaius’s word, there were two guards waiting for him.

“Come,” one said, and Merlin shrugged helplessly at Gaius and followed them out. Thankfully, neither of the guards seemed to be restraining him, so Merlin let himself relax.

They reached Arthur’s room, and the guards opened the doors, stepping aside to let Merlin in.

“I’m supposed to go in here?”

“Well, yes, Prince Arthur requested you.”

“Oh.” And with that, Merlin was pushed into the room and the doors were shut promptly behind him.

“Merlin! It took you ages to get here!” Arthur was sitting on his bed, and much to Merlin’s surprise was fully dressed, and had a small bag packed and ready to go next to him. What didn’t surprise Merlin, however, was how annoyed the prince sounded.

“Sorry, Sire, I was just… um, waking up.”

Arthur sighed, but didn’t throw anything at Merlin, which was a good sign. Instead he got out of bed, grabbed his manservant by the arm, and dragged him to the window. “Look, Merlin, it’s snowing.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? It always snows at this time of year.”

Arthur responded by giving Merlin a sharp jab in the ribs. “Yes, but this is the first snowfall of the season.”

“And…?”

“I need you to come with me. Don’t ask any questions.”

So, Merlin found himself following his prat of a prince out of the castle, across the courtyard, upon a horse, and out of the city walls. “Can I talk now?” he asked, as soon as the duo had made it into the safety of the woods.

“Go ahead. It would be odd being on trip without you blabbering all the way.”

“Why. In. The. World. Did. You. Wake. Me. Up. This. Early. In. The. Morning? Where the hell are we going?” Any other day, talking like this would definitely result in something me thrown at him, possibly worse, but today was no normal day. Arthur merely smiled at him, then spurred his horse to a fast speed. Merlin rolled his eyes, and followed suit. By now, the snow was heavier, and was erasing all tracks that the horse had left behind.

“Arthur?” Merlin called out in worry. “How are we going to find our way back?”

“It’s alright, I’ve been here loads of times. I know the way back. Hurry up, we’re almost there.”

“Where?” Merlin said quickly, hoping to surprise him and trick him into telling the truth.

“You’ll see!”

They rode in silence for a couple more minutes, until Arthur stopped his horse abruptly. Merlin nearly crashed his own a horse into his. “What now?” Merlin said, annoyed.

“We’re here.”

“Really?” All annoyance forgotten, Merlin peered around Arthur only to find, to his dismay, more snow covered trees. “I don’t see-” He stopped as Arthur slid out of the saddle and strode away. Muttering about how much he missed his bed, Merlin hurried after him.

“Arthur!” Merlin called again. “Where are you?” He spotted the prince’s blonde hair further up the path. Arthur was starting of into the trees, unmoving.

Merlin caught up to him, standing behind his friend. “What are you looking a-” Oh. Suddenly, it became very clear to Merlin what there were there to see. The group of trees that they were standing in front of were old and gnarly, and they all bent towards each other, forming a tunnel. It might have looked unremarkable on any other day, but, as Merlin had already discovered, this was no normal day. The freshly fallen snow coated the branches, reflecting the moonlight, and already icicles had started to form, coating the inside of the tunnel in beauty. In short, it was breathtaking.

“It’s - it’s amazing,” Merlin said, stunned.

Beside him, Arthur nodded. “Good, yeah? We pass this area all the time while doing patrols, and I’ve always wondered what it would look like in snow.” Arthur glanced at Merlin. “I hope I didn’t inconvenience you too much by dragging you along. I just wanted you too see it, too.”

Merlin laughed. “Thanks, Arthur. It was very nice of you. Very princely.” Merlin nodded, pretending to critique Arthur. “A nine out of ten, I’d say. It would be ten, but you were quite rude to your manservant on the ride, so I docked a point.”

Arthur laughed too, throwing his head back. “It was all part of the surprise. There’s more, actually. I packed food with us. You hungry? We could sit down and eat, I suppose.”

“You’re only supposed to do that in the summer!”

“Says who?”

“Well, nobody, but it’s cold -”

“I brought blankets! Really, Merlin, don’t be such a girl.”

“Fine. But, you know, normal princes don’t sneak out in the middle of the night at first snowfall to find secret snow tunnels and have picnics with their manservant, you know.”

“I’m not doing this because you’re my manservant, I’m doing this because you’re my friend. I mean, really, can you imagine me doing this with George?” With that, Arthur headed off towards the horses.

Merlin had found this last statement extremely funny, and it took all his strength not to fall to the forest floor laughing. When he finished laughing, Merlin looked at the snow tunnel once more, and smiled. Even though Arthur was a real prat sometimes, he was Merlin’s friend, and that’s what mattered. Merlin knew that he would do anything for his friend, destiny or not.

… a friend who had just pelted him in the back of the head with a snowball. Oh, he was going to murder Arthur.                                                                                                                                                      

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooo
> 
> So, yeah. I really have nothing to say. But I'm happier with this chapter than the one before. 
> 
> (Ooo my mother is asking me if I want pizza yes Mama yes PLEASE ORDER THE PIZZA)
> 
> Welp, thank you so much for reading! Hit me up on tumblr or something if you want to be friends. (Paulblofish) Please comment and or kudo! I mean, if you want to. :) Thank you so much, sweethearts.
> 
> As always, 
> 
> TTFN!


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